On the Mediterranean and at The Met
Notes on books, art, and other leisurely pursuits...
Travel in the Seams at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Two of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s featured exhibitions right now, Sargent & Paris, and Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, have intriguing ties to travel.
The Sargent exhibition includes a number of canvases from Sargent’s travels in Spain, Italy, and North Africa that feel markedly different from his typical work – that is, large-scale portraits of the monied elite. Dancers, olive groves, moody sketches of the Alhambra, and a single whitewashed staircase are transportive, but I was most interested in a profile portrait of a young woman from Capri.
In Rosina Ferrara (Capri Peasant - Study), Sargent paints her with tousled hair and pronounced features in golden light. The accompanying description spells out what may have only been implied – or simply understood without explanation – in exhibitions past. In 1879, when Sargent painted Ferrara, he would have considered her to be nonwhite. The curators of this exhibition present this as Sargent’s effort to grow beyond the boundaries imposed by his wealthy clients. It’s also not lost on me that one of Sargent’s greatest paintings – El Jaleo,* which portrays a flamenco dancer and a group of musicians caught in the fervor of performance – is like this portrait of Ferrara. It’s Sargent’s unscripted reach across race, class, and experience.
This reminded me of another disorienting experience I had with similar subject matter. I remember reading D.H. Lawrence’s Sea and Sardinia – not exactly a must-read travel memoir, but a travel memoir by a famous writer, at any rate – and feeling grossed out by Lawrence’s sense of arrogance and superiority toward the Sardinian people. Now, sadly, it makes sense.
Superfine: Tailoring Black Style approaches travel primarily, but not only, through the lens of Louis Vuitton. A towering stack of André Leon Talley’s monogrammed logo travel cases speaks for itself. But I also loved Pharrell Williams’s exploration of Air Afrique, a pan-African airline founded in 1961. It served decolonized countries in West and Central Africa and stayed in business until the early 2000s. Here, Williams focuses on its heyday – riffing on its green and black color palette in his spring/summer 2025 collection. You’ll see some of it in this exhibition — a suave, green-check, double-breasted suit, a smart little purse-size bag that mimics the design of the travel cases. A print magazine, inspired by the airline and its inflight publication, acts as a kind of accompaniment to Williams’s collection and features art and conversations about the Afro-diaspora.
*Note that El Jaleo is, notably but not surprisingly, not part of the Sargent exhibition at The Met. It is the jewel in the crown of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and I’m guessing they loan it out exactly never.
Two Tips for Summer in NYC
If you’re thinking of visiting the newly reopened Frick Collection in New York, do take the time to reserve timed tickets in advance. I rocked up midweek thinking I wouldn’t have any trouble getting in and the wait was two hours. In direct sun.
File under Not New, But New to Me: I recently stopped by the Central Park visitor’s center at The Dairy, a Calvert Vaux-designed structure that was originally a restaurant and refreshment center for families. (No kidding, the original plan was to put cows in the basement to provide milk. Hence the name.) It sat sad and dormant for a bunch of years but was reopened in 2021 and it’s kind of excellent. Park staff happily answer questions but there’s also a bunch of cute stuff in the gift shop – think watercolor sets, bird identification books, and park logo t-shirts.
What to Read on the Beach in the Mediterranean
Is there anything more fun than sitting on a mildly uncomfortable rock corniche in the south of France reading a novel? Actually, no. Take these along this summer to conjure this dreamy part of the world, no matter where you’re headed.
Works by Jean-Claude Izzo: Go for one of his noir-y detective novels (Total Chaos, Chourmo, Solea) that are all set in Marseilles. If you want something gentler, try Garlic, Mint, and Sweet Basil, a love letter to the city.
Rome by Robert Hughes: A historian and giant Rome fanboy, the late Hughes pays homage to his favorite city in this sprawling and occasionally cantankerous history.
Neapolitan Chronicles by Anna Maria Ortese: Yes, you should of course read Elena Ferrante’s blockbuster novels, but once you’re done, have a look at Anna Maria Ortese’s Neapolitan Chronicles, which inspired Ferrante. This collection of short stories and essays captures midcentury Naples in all of its social and political tumult.
Syracusa by Delia Ephron: A bunch of deeply unlikeable New Yorkers go to Italy on vacation. That’s the straightforward premise, but it ultimately swerves into a mystery that has real – and terrifying – stakes. Read it just so we can talk about it. Thanks.
My Life in France by Julia Child: This memoir is for anyone who loves food and France, but the underlying themes of friendship and personal discovery make this one of my nonfiction favorites.
The Odyssey Translated by Emily Wilson: This gobsmacking translation – the first ever by a woman – takes a lean, muscular approach to language and the results are dazzling. Never have Athena’s owl eyes seemed so luminous.